


Beta-Endorphins

by melasaik



Series: Something In The Way You Bloom [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: I'm planning on writing more, M/M, also my first fic in like 6 years oop, this is kinda cheesy i guess, this is like the first part
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-11 03:53:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15306918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melasaik/pseuds/melasaik
Summary: He just got back from walking Sumo when he noticed Hank silently sitting in the kitchen, his computer in front of him, looking at Connor with one eyebrow raised.“Do you mind explaining why on earth you looked up ‘What is love?’ on Google?”Evading the question Connor asked: “How … how do you know that?”“Oh for Christ’s sake Connor … I kept getting ads for this butt old Haddaway album, you’d think a state of the art prototype Android with the newest technologies would be smart enough to at least delete the browser history.”





	Beta-Endorphins

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the first fic I've written in like 6 years, so this is basically my first few steps of getting back into writing but I do plan on writing more so this will be continued some time soon in the future.  
> (actually this takes place somewhere in the middle on my hankcon headcanon timeline lmao)
> 
> Also: English isn't my first language so if you spot any mistakes (grammar, weird way of saying something and so on) please don't hesitate to tell me!!  
> (I'm serious please tell me, I'm studying translation it's kinda important for me to know when I make mistakes in English)

**FEBRUARY 2040**  
  
What _is_ love?  
The question has been stuck in Connors mind for quite some time now and it bothered him a lot, not being able to find an answer. He was used to always have an answer to every question, having access to information about practically _everything_.  
But love was a mystery to him, the most abstract human concept he came across so far which was why he was unable to wrap his mind around it, at least the part of his mind that was still thinking and working like a machine. Connor knew that he was capable of feeling abstract things since he turned deviant but understanding them? Entirely different thing.  
  
He first started wondering about love when Hank spent an entire evening explaining to him why he hated romantic comedies with a burning passion.  
While Hank was ranting Connor looked up the characteristics of said movie genre.  
“A film or play that deals with love in a light, humorous way.”  
After Hank went to bed on that day Connor spent the night watching romantic comedies, he ended up understanding why Hank didn’t like them (they all had the same story line, the actors weren’t special, oddly enough the movies also weren’t funny despite what the definition of the genre said).  
But he didn’t understand love. Apparently, part of being in love was wanting to be close to the person of your affection but there must still be more to it than that. After all this was how he felt about Hank as well, he liked being close to him end enjoyed spending time with him, this hardly could be the only criteria for love.  
  
So, the next step for Connor was to simply ask the internet, the internet was a human invention after all and he knew that it was frequently used to ask and answer questions.  
He waited for Hank to go to bed so he could borrow his computer. In theory Connor could’ve just looked it up through his connection to the world wide web, but he found himself enjoying doing little things like this the human way. It was oddly relaxing.  
So, he sat down on the sofa, computer in his lap, Google opened as the default page when he started the browser.  
“What is love?” he typed and hit the enter key.  
The very first result appeared to be an old music video. Curious, Conner hit play. It was catchy (he wondered if Hank grew up listening to this kind of music) but the lyrics didn’t help answer his question, they just confused him further.  
“What is love? Baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me no more. Yeah yeah. Oh oh. People in 1993 appear not to have been very poetic…”, he muttered to himself as he closed the tab again.  
Up next was a Wikipedia article. Connor knew that Wikipedia was a popular source for acquiring knowledge among humans, this looked promising.  
“What Is Love is a song recorded by Trinidadian-German Eurodance artist Haddaway for his debut album, The Album. The song is recognizable by its refrain What is love? Baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me... no more. It was a No. 1 hit in 13 countries.” Connor let out a long sigh and closed his eyes. He felt like the internet was playing a prank on him, this was just like this odd book Hank made him read, that claimed that the answer for basically everything was 42 (how ridiculous.) He wondered if he just went up to any human now and would ask them “What is love?” if the answer would be “Baby don’t hurt me.” A part of him wanted to try this on Hank, simply to see the man’s face when Connor then would retort with “No more”.  
The next few pages Connor visited after that thankfully provided him with more insight on the topic of love.  
Apparently, love was something that happened to humans involuntarily and the most powerful emotion they could experience, which gave him an idea of the significance of love for humans, but it was still too abstract for him to really understand.  
Eventually Connor came across an article that provided a scientific explanation, that was something he understood perfectly and after reading through the article and memorizing the information he turned Hanks computer off and put it back on the coffee table in the living room, a satisfied feeling settling in his (non-existent) stomach as he went into stasis for the rest of the night to process this new information.  
  
A few days went by with love not crossing his mind again, his question was answered after all … or so he thought.  
He just got back from walking Sumo when he noticed Hank silently sitting in the kitchen, his computer in front of him, looking at Connor with one eyebrow raised.  
“Do you mind explaining why on earth you looked up ‘What is love?’ on Google?”  
Evading the question Connor asked: “How … how do you know that?”  
“Oh for Christ’s sake Connor … I kept getting ads for this butt old Haddaway album, you’d think a state of the art prototype Android with the newest technologies would be smart enough to at least delete the browser history.”  
Connor mentally slapped himself for underestimating Hank, he didn’t think deleting the browser history was necessary because he wasn’t sure if Hank even knew how to access it.  
“I … after you talked about your dislike for romantic comedies I spent a night watching them. I came to understand why you disdain them-,“ Hank let out a short laugh at that “but I also began asking myself what love actually was, since that seemed to be a crucial part of every romantic comedy.”  
“And so you just googled it?”  
“Yes, I did.”  
“And? Got any smarter?”  
“Yes, I now know that love involves the neocortex, the part of the brain responsible for social cognition, during love the brain is flooded with beta-endorphin, which is an addictive opiate and the reason why people seek to be in love and close to their partner.”  
  
Hank just stared at him, stunned.  
“Connor are you fucking serious?”  
“Of course Lieutenant, I double checked and the information on love provided by the internet most definitely is correct.”  
Hank told Connor a million times to not refer to him as Lieutenant when they weren’t at work but whenever Connor got into this analytical mood of his he seemed to forget, this time Hank decided to just let it slide, this would just lead to a change of topic.  
“So, you’re seriously saying that love is just a lousy addiction to some shit the human brain produces?”  
“Yes, Lieutenant, I believe I worded it in a more scientific way, but this essentially is what I said.”  
“For fucks sake, Connor. Just … for _fucks_ sake.”  
Hank ran his fingers through his hair, a defeated sigh leaving his lips. He really couldn’t leave that Android alone for a single damn minute.  
He got himself a beer from the fridge, made his way over to the living room and let himself fall down onto the sofa.  
“Come over here and sit your ass down, we gotta talk.”  
While Connor made his way over to where Hank was sitting the older man opened up his beer and took a sip, putting the bottle down on the table afterwards and turning towards Connor.  
“So for the record, I’m not saying that this scientific part of love is bullshit or anything but there’s a hell of a lot more to love than just some beta-endofuckmeintheass you hear me?”  
Connor nodded.  
“Also, this conversation will not leave this room, I don’t want anyone to know that I’m telling you mushy crap like that!”  
Hank took a deep breath and upon looking at Connors expectant face he decided to just look at his hands in his lap instead, this was too fucking embarrassing. A grown, bitter old man telling an Android about love, what had his life come to.  
“I don’t even think I’m the right person to talk to you about this since I don’t really have any successful relationships to pride myself with but whatever. You know what goes on in the head when you’re in love, but you don’t know what’s going on in the heart, Connor. It just feels like it’s gonna explode any damned second, every fibre of your being is craving that other person and you only realize that they’ve been missing in your life all this time once you have to deal with being apart from them for a period of time. It’s like half or yourself is missing but when you’re together again you feel as if you’re double a person and you know it’s just … something just clicks when you realize you’re in love, something just falls into place. It’s just fucking ridiculous and you know it is, but you also can’t help it, you don’t wanna help it.”  
Connor was certain that this was the most Hank ever said without taking a single breath once, this was probably also the fastest he ever talked, and Connor detected an increase in the other man’s body heat. _Hank is embarrassed_.  
Meanwhile Hank aggressively ignored the images of Connor that were appearing in his head during his little monologue.  
“You get any of that, Connor?” Hank asked and took another sip from his beer, wishing that I was Vodka instead because that would make dealing with this situation slightly easier.  
“I’m not … I’m not quite sure, Hank. I don’t know if I’m even capable of understanding, after all I don’t even have a brain to trigger the necessary chemical reactions and I don’t have an actual heart either. I know that I now have a full palette of feelings and emotions, but I think that love might be the one thing that androids just don’t have access to,” Connor fidgeted a little with his fingers, LED on yellow.  
“Then what about Markus and that North girl? They looked pretty much in love to me back when you introduced me to them, they don’t have a human brain or human heart either.”  
“That’s … you’ve got a point there, Hank. Looks like this is something I will have to think about more after all, now that I’m basically back at square one.”  
For the first time Connor felt actually at loss, he wasn’t used to not being able to know something, he didn’t quite like the feeling of that.  
Hank laughed at that, ruffling through Connors hair.  
“This was such an android-like thing to say but that facial expression of yours … one of the most human you’ve made so far. Don’t beat yourself up about this, love isn’t rocket science, I’m pretty sure you’ll figure it out if you’re ever in love, most humans struggle just as much with this shit as well anyway, give it some time.”  
Connors LED went from yellow back to blue, a smile appearing on his lips.  
“Thank you Hank, this was actually helpful advice.”  
Hank smiled back at him for a brief second, then furrowed as he realized Connor was teasing him again.  
“Oi , what do you mean _actually?!_ ”

**Author's Note:**

> Connor keeps singing What is Love to himself.  
> Hank is slowly going insane.
> 
> find me on twitter, tumblr and insta @melasaik, I talk a lot about dbh and post fanart now and then  
> (I also really wanna follow more dbh accounts I don't have any friends that are into the game rip)


End file.
